The Olympic Games are the most important competition in track cycling, so the prestige of the World Championships shifts with the Olympic cycle. The qualification phase for the next Olympics has already opened in Shanghai. The start of the 2026 championships proved exciting: the Dutch men’s sprint machine proved its hegemony once again, China’s women’s team won gold on home soil, and Lorena Wiebes pulled on the rainbow jersey in the scratch race.
The Dutch “Bullet Train” and the Hosts’ Celebration
What is the team sprint?
It is an Olympic discipline — one of the most explosive and technical events in the velodrome. Two teams of three riders start from opposite sides of the track. Each rider leads the team for exactly one lap at maximum speed and then leaves the track. The third and final lap is completed by the last team member. The team whose third rider crosses the finish line fastest wins.
The men’s team sprint is the event where the Netherlands are in a league of their own. The trio of Harrie Lavreysen, Jeffrey Hoogland and Roy van den Berg coolly lived up to their status as favorites. In the final they beat a very strong Australian team and won their sixth world title, while bronze went to the host nation, China.
In the women’s team sprint, the hosts set the Shanghai velodrome alight. China’s team showed top class and kept the gold medals out of the British riders’ reach (bronze went to Germany) — a huge step forward for Chinese track cycling.
Picture by Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com – 14/10/2026 – Cycling – 2026 Tissot UCI Track World Championships – Chongming Shanghai Velodrome, Shanghai, China – Women’s Team Sprint Podium – Yulu Jiang (China), Mengqi Tong (China), Liying Yuan (China), Xuehuang Luo (China) wins the Gold Medal to become World Champion with Sophie Capewell (Great Britain), Emma Finucane (Great Britain), Rhianna Parris-Smith (Great Britain) receiving the Silver Medal and Lea Sophie Friedrich (Germany), Pauline Sophie Grabosch (Germany
Lorena Wiebes Triumphs in the Scratch Race
What is the scratch race?
The scratch race is not an Olympic event (although it is part of the omnium program). It is one of the simplest and most spectacular formats on the track — it resembles a classic road race. All riders start together, and the winner is whoever crosses the finish line first at the end of the set distance (40 laps / 10 km for women).
Lorena Wiebes raced a tactically flawless race, switched on her trademark, merciless power in the final meters and took the gold. At the finish line she faced fierce competition from Ireland’s Lara Gillespie, who took the silver medal.
14/10/2026 – Cycling – 2026 Tissot UCI Track World Championships – Women’s Scratch Race – WIEBES Lorena (NED) – GILLESPIE Lara (IRL)
© Photos in this article are from the UCI’s official Facebook page
Translated from Georgian with the assistance of Claude (Anthropic), reviewed by the Velorbola editors.
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